diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index c323755b..4b6967b4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -55,21 +55,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
-          submodules: false
-
-      - name: Checkout NetBeans
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          repository: apache/netbeans
-          path: netbeans
-          ref: 23
-
-      - name: Checkout NetBeans l10n
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          repository: apache/netbeans-l10n
-          path: netbeans-l10n
-          ref: ece00239dc7a208fba60703c2256ffd818da1646
+          submodules: true
 
       - name: Apply NetBeans patches
         run: ant apply-patches
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 58548e20..643416e7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 build/
-netbeans/
-netbeans-l10n/
 .DS_STORE
 .idea/
 *.iml
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a04938ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+[submodule "netbeans-l10n"]
+	path = netbeans-l10n
+	url = https://github.com/apache/netbeans-l10n.git
+[submodule "netbeans"]
+	path = netbeans
+	url = https://github.com/apache/netbeans.git
diff --git a/BUILD.md b/BUILD.md
index 82f88857..3d9490fb 100644
--- a/BUILD.md
+++ b/BUILD.md
@@ -35,16 +35,7 @@
 ## Fetching and building the code
 
 ```bash
-$ git clone https://github.com/oracle/javavscode.git
-$ cd javavscode/
-$ git clone https://github.com/apache/netbeans.git
-$ cd netbeans/
-$ git checkout 23
-$ cd ..
-$ git clone https://github.com/apache/netbeans-l10n.git
-$ cd netbeans-l10n
-$ git checkout ece00239dc7a208fba60703c2256ffd818da1646 # head commit in master
-$ cd ..
+$ git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/oracle/javavscode.git
 # the following target requires git executable to be on PATH:
 $ ant apply-patches
 $ ant build-netbeans
@@ -107,3 +98,24 @@ $ npm_config_https_proxy=http://your.proxy.com:port ant test-vscode-ext
 
 when executing the tests for the first time. That shall overcome the proxy
 and download an instance of `code` to execute the tests with.
+
+## Working with submodules 
+This project uses [git submodules](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Submodules) . In particular netbeans and netbeans-l10n are submodules pointing to specific commits in their respective repositories .
+### Switching Branches 
+Add the --recurse-submodules  flag to the git checkout command to update the submodules during the checkout.
+```bash
+git checkout --recurse-submodules <branch_name>
+```
+Note:- Merging branches with submodules pointing to different commits can be tricky. Refer the [git submodules](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Submodules) for more details on the same.
+### Changing submodules versions 
+```bash
+# Fetching changes from remote submodule repositories 
+git submodule update --remote   
+# Changing the submodule version
+cd netbeans
+git checkout <commit_hash>
+cd ..
+# Committing the submodule version 
+git add netbeans
+git commit -m "Updated netbeans"
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/netbeans b/netbeans
new file mode 160000
index 00000000..2985f1fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/netbeans
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 2985f1fa57ce0c1877bad0f86d5e5504d65f9286
diff --git a/netbeans-l10n b/netbeans-l10n
new file mode 160000
index 00000000..ece00239
--- /dev/null
+++ b/netbeans-l10n
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit ece00239dc7a208fba60703c2256ffd818da1646